Connemara

On friday we took our sort of "Intro" to our Irish Studies course. It was an extremely long day but completely worth it. At promptly 8:30 we headed out to a nearby area called Connemara. It's a mixture of boglands, plains, glacial mountains, forests, and coast. Our Irish Studies guide's name is Gordon D'Arcy and he is wonderful. He is so knowledgeable about the area, he has even written a book about the Burren. I'm very excited to have this class every friday, he is so interesting to listen to! We were on the bus most of the day but we were able to get out a few different times to roam around and take pictures. We first stopped to get some coffee in a little town close by and then headed on the road to Connemara, which is across the Galway Bay from us. We drove through the most incredible land, it's almost indescribable. Unfortunately we were on the bus most of the time so I didn't get too many photos during that part of the day but I can tell you that the glacial mountains with their plains made me feel like I was back in prehistoric times. I half expected a brontosaurus to be standing on top of one! It was absolutely beautiful. That with the mixture of small cottages, lots of sheep, lakes, and stone walls. I was definitely in Ireland. After that wonderful drive we stopped at a lake to take some pictures after the rain shower subsided and then headed off again into the beautiful terrain via bus. The only way I can fully explain to you all how beautiful it was would be to show you the photos which I will soon, but those can hardly even do it any justice. We saw a beautiful neo-gothic castle called Kylemore Abbey. It was a castle before it was an abbey and was built in 1867. It is the oldest of the Benedictine abbeys, the abbey was an international boarding school, however with the decline of religious practice, there are hardly any nuns left. We didn't get to go in, just look, but it was beautiful regardless.

After we stopped for lunch we continued on through the beautiful terrain. We headed towards the coast and again the lang changed, this time it was greener with more granite rocks. We visited two beautiful beaches, each with it's own personality.

The bus ride back from this trip was killer, it took forever and I tried to sleep but it was a little difficult given the bus space circumstances but now we are all back and going to watch a movie, although it's an argument as to what we will watch haha.

Thursday we went to immigration and got to go to a real grocery store to shop which was refreshing. The immigration lady gave me some tips for where to find some info on my heritage and namesake around here, she was very nice.

That's about all for now. I'm very excited to start classes but also a little nervous because I don't really know what I want to do with my art still. I guess it will come to me soon enough. It's just very nice to be surrounded by art students. We all are so interested in each others art and show each other our sketch books it's a very nice environment.

I guess that's all for now. Hope you all are well! =)